A "telecomputing system" that connects computers at remote areas together by using telephone lines has been developed. In Japan, for example, personal computer communication has been popular since the telecommunication service law became effective in 1985.
Trends in personal computer communication: The primary recent trends in personal computer communication are to increase communication speeds and mutual connections (gateway service), and to employ the Internet.
The Internet originated as an international communication network linking together universities and research institutes in 54 nations worldwide for the exchange of academic study data, and since the 1970's its development has been supported by an agency of the U.S. Government. Servers (mainly UNIX workstations) installed at universities and research institutions are voluntarily mutually linked, and together have formed a huge worldwide network. The present Internet is made up of in excess of several hundred thousand servers worldwide. Remote server computers are mutually linked using TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol), and can exchange data and communicate with each other via an electronic bulletin board (BBS: Bulletin Board System).
Conventionally, the Internet carried images that only linked Unix-based computers could utilize, but in 1994 it became available for general public use, so that even personal computer communication services in Japan can now access the Internet. The Internet is attracting ordinary users because it can be used to access information at overseas locations at a relatively low price, and because it has an advanced user interface using an image display.
Functions of the Internet:
The Internet has the following primary functions:
(1) Electric mail (E-mail) PA1 (2) Remote control (telenet) PA1 (3) File search/transfer (FTP: file transfer protocol) PA1 (4) Electronic bulletin board (Usenet)
The electronic bulletin board, as a system, is the same as a BBS for personal computer communication, and is used to send messages or to provide information to a single person or to an unspecified number of people. When an inquiry concerning an interesting subject, for example, is posted on a BBS, the receipt of many responses from unknown persons can be expected. BBSs using the Internet especially enable the exchange of news and the holding of discussions on a global basis, and collectively are sometimes called the world's largest "bulletin board". A teleconference system, that has frequently been referred to, was developed from the BBS system. The teleconference system provides an improved search function based on the presenters' name and a message display function.
Access to the Internet: The Internet is not a single computer network controlled by a specific company or organization, but substantially is a community of networks of computers (server computers) storing information.
Before a user uses the Internet, his or her personal computer must be linked as a client to a subscribed server computer. If a user is a researcher or a student, he or she can access as a client a server at a university or an institution. On the other hand, ordinary users must execute a contract with a commercial Internet service company (hereinafter referred to as an "Internet provider" or a "service provider") that provides servers for clients. Such a service provider is, for example, the "IBM Internet Connection Service" from IBM Japan, Co., Ltd. or the "BEKKOAME/INTERNET" from Bekkoame Internet.
Among the several types of contracts offered by service providers, a "dial-up IP (Internet Protocol) connection" (hereinafter simply referred to as an "IP connection") is readily employed for personal use. With an IP connection, the PC of a user can be connected as a client to the server computer of a service provider by using a telephone line and a modem, and can thereafter access another server on the Internet via the provider's server computer.
Since server computers are always linked together on worldwide basis, the use of the Internet is free, whereas an access fee is generally charged by a service provider.
Recently, the Internet has ceased to be limited in its use to being an information transmission means, such as is represented by an e-mail or FTP accesses, and tends now to also be used as a real-time information communication means for the transmission of audio/video information. The expansion in the uses of the Internet stems from the Internet's high performance and its excellence as a communication medium. The Internet provides high performance because it includes an advanced user interface using an image display. And its excellence as a communication medium becomes obvious when the charges for the services it provides are considered. Since the server computers are constantly linked together on worldwide basis, the same charge rate applies to both domestic communication and international communication. To access information available at a remote area, substantially, no international telephone fee is required, the only telephone fee being that which is assessed for connection to the nearest access point (AP) of a contracted provider. And in addition, the Internet can be employed as a videophone (hereinafter referred to as an "Internet videophone").
The greatest barrier to the use of Internet videophones by ordinary users is the connection method that the current service providers provide. When, for example, ordinary user A desires to access ordinary user B, user A must naturally call a service provider to obtain an IP connection. At this time, however, user B must also call a service provider to preliminarily obtain an IP connection, and must then wait until an access is initiated by user A. User B, however, can not always wait for an access with maintaining the IP connection, because he or she may be charged an enormous service fee by his or her service provider. Thus, before an Internet videophone is used, a caller and a caller must adjust their schedules in advance. This, however, renders using a videophone as a daily communication means very inconvenient because users must agree in advance on an access time in order to make a call.